Leadership for Vermont
Toolbox
By PAUL COSTELLO - Published: July 8, 2009
I've had the honor these last two years of working with a dedicated and inspiring group of Vermonters, the members of the Council on the Future of Vermont (CFV). This team, founded and staffed by the Vermont Council on Rural Development, led an unprecedented statewide conversation on the values, visions and practical priorities of Vermonters as they look to the challenges ahead.
The CFV heard from thousands of Vermonters in everything from town hall meetings to small group sessions with Vermonters from all walks of life. They considered poll results, summary data sets — even the poetic contributions of young writers. They deliberated on the challenges before us — in education, economic development and land use. And while they heard of the daunting problems facing the state (from affordability to global warming) they developed conclusions that are both optimistic and idealistic.
Optimistic — because the council concluded that we Vermonters have retained a character and set of values and goals that bind us together in authentic communities — both locally and at the state level. Even in this mad megapolitan world, "we are still a people." The council never glossed over our political, social or economic differences. But its articulation of Vermont values and points of vision concludes with a sort of patriotism for our place and an affirmation that, with our sights set high and hard mutual effort, we have what it takes to succeed.
Idealistic — because the council summarized all Vermont's voices as a call to our principles, to our best ideals, and to common action in service to all that we love about Vermont, and all that is threatened. The final conclusion of their report, "Imagining Vermont," proposes that:
"With its small scale and strong values, Vermont is an incubator of ideas, a center of innovation, and a laboratory for creative solutions. A history of ingenuity allows Vermont to respond to local, national and global challenges in a unique way, and Vermonters want to embrace that leadership potential in many areas ...Vermont should be intentional in developing itself as a laboratory of innovation in public policy, education, energy and the economy, civic and community life, and act as a model and a leader for the nation."
We know that optimism and idealism alone won't build jobs, transform public education, advance the state's energy future, or address the fundamental economic crisis that the state faces today. We also see statistical trends showing tremendous challenges to affordability in the future. In conversation after conversation around the costs of housing, transportation, energy and health care throughout Vermont, most Vermonters see that the other side of the coin of affordability is job creation.
Based on all it heard, the Council on the Future of Vermont came to several key positions on our economic future that it believed most Vermonters share:
The Vermont economy should grow from Vermont values and assets.
It should be supported by a plan for development in line with our long-term goals and opportunities. Much of our planning is seen as reactive. We have a reputation in some quarters for a bad business climate. We need to better define where and how we want development to occur, identify best prospects, plan for it, and set conditions for success.
We need to advance in-state energy development, the natural resource economy of farms and forests, and the green economy.
Vermonters want to promote local commerce and downtown vitality.
And we need to strengthen, and benefit from, the creative economy; the cultural sector, tourism, and the innovation economy are important drivers of Vermont's economic future.
Are our efforts to stimulate job creation commensurate with the challenges we face? Not yet. We lack unity around economic development in Vermont today — or we act like it.
There is an intriguing irony here. On one hand, Vermonters believe in the power of community for public good. We build local action committees to get things done. A tremendous percentage of us participate in leading nonprofits, municipal boards and other volunteer activities. The power of participatory democracy is strong here.
On the other hand, the same urge to participate leads us to attack issues from so many sides and with so many leadership groups we are sometimes paralyzed. In the face of today's challenges, and especially the economic crisis, it is time that we work together to overcome structures and systems that weaken the impact of leadership and systemically undermine initiative. We need to build partnerships, to line up across our differences, and advance a common economic agenda today to build the prosperity of the future.
Ultimately, the findings of the Council on the Future of Vermont are a call to civic participation and to leadership — not to a party or an interest, and not just to government, or to key organizations, but to all Vermonters. As "Imagining Vermont" puts it, "We need to rededicate ourselves to the Vermont ideal of Community" — and each take a practical role in leadership to move it forward.
Paul Costello is executive director of the Vermont Council on Rural Development. To see the report online, go to www.futureofvermont.org or call for a copy at 802-223-6091.
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